Many people have lived long lives, and many more have been in the military. All of them have stories to tell, and it’s important to not only preserve those stories, but to write them down- to document them so that they can live on. This article is the story of a veteran, husband, father, and a great neighbor.

Chuck Boneck was born in Westwood, CA, and raised in Susanville. He had three brothers, and enjoyed school. When he turned eighteen, and finished high school, he was drafted for the Korean War- he was only there for four and a half months. After he was drafted, he enlisted in the air force during the Vietnam War, and was made kennel master- handling and keeping track of the dogs! Chuck still loves dogs to this day.

During the Cold War, he was stationed in Niigata, which is a Japanese city with an air force base. This is where he met and married his wife, Yukie. Yukie was working as the office administrative manager on the base, meaning she was in charge of the Japanese civilian clerks in the marshal’s office. Chuck describes it as love at first sight- “I was certain that it could happen. But I never dreamed it would happen to me.”

When the two got married, the marriage license was two dollars. In a very funny and ironic turn of events, Chuck had to borrow two dollars from Yukie to pay for the license to get married! When I asked Yukie if Chuck ever paid her back, she said, “Maybe. I definitely got a lot!”, referring to their very eventful married life.

Chuck and Yukie were married November 8th, 1956; They have been married for 67 years. They had two sons together, Chuck Jr. and Richard, and moved around a whole lot. From Sacramento to Japan to different air force bases, to finally settling in Reno, they’ve gone through so many different eras and phases of their lives- together.